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November 07, 2007
[ PUTTING ON THE GLAMOUR ]
IMAGING WAS INVITED TO DINE LAST WEEK with some important persons. And, as sometimes happens, we were asked to bring a camera to take some happy snaps of the occasion.
The thing is, we never go out without our external flash unit, because we have a deep loathing of in-built camera flashes. They make subjects look as though they have been startled and blinded by a small nuclear explosion in the immediate vicinity. Our external flash is fitted with a simple plastic Stofen Omnibounce dome diffuser that softens the light and makes it look more like natural, available illumination.
In the interests of telling the full story we should point out that the flash diffuser, while being just a simple plastic box that sits on the flash head and is held in place by nothing more hi-tech than friction, costs an astonishing $45.
Anyway, we were mortified to discover that we had left the flash behind. We had no choice but to use the on-board light. And things turned out exactly as we knew they would.
Harsh flash that shows up every pore and wrinkle in sharp and startling relief is not much of a problem if the subject is a man, but when it is a woman of a certain age this is not how she likes to see herself. When an unattractive highlight gleam is added to the forensic detail of the complexion she is none too pleased.
It so happens that there are post-camera solutions to the problem of unflattering flash which involve a little fiddling with the image in Photoshop or PaintShop Pro.
The simplest solution for Photoshop owners is to download a free Action called Edgarian Blur. This Action imparts a lovely soft glow to any photo at the click of a button. The Action creates a second, blurred layer over the original and the degree of softening is controlled with the opacity slider. Just slide the selector to 50 per cent opacity and then adjust it one way or the other for more or less blur.
Once the skin looks blemish-free it helps to reveal those features which ought to be sharp, such as eyes and teeth. Use the Eraser tool to cut a hole in the top layer to expose the sharp original underneath.
For Photoshop Elements and PaintShop Pro the glamorising procedure is easy. First, open the picture that is to get the treatment and duplicate the background layer. Then, with the duplicate layer selected, apply a Gaussian blur from the filter set. The degree of blur is expressed in Pixels and is controlled with a slider in the dialogue box. Around ten pixels is a good place to start.
In PaintShop Pro the routine is: duplicate layer, Adjust/Blur/Gaussian blur and set the Radius at 20 to start with and then experiment with degrees of blur.
Once the skin tone looks smooth and glowing erase the blurred area over the eyes and teeth and then flatten the image.
The problem of the harsh flash is solved and she will think she is as glamorous as the heavily filtered Ms Andy Macdowell.
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Posted by terry at November 7, 2007 09:52 PM
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Comments
I like your tongue in cheek humour! "She" as being the one to be obeyed, or the one indoors.
Good tips you offer us, thank you, Terry Lane.
Posted by: Danielle at November 17, 2007 11:14 AM